More than 4,905,169 tickets had been requested by fans from all over the world before the random selection draw sales period concluded yesterday, FIFA has disclosed.

Since December 5, 2017, supporters have had a great opportunity to apply for tickets exclusively at FIFA.com/tickets, and anticipation for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia this summer has been increasing steadily.

FIFA said in a statement that overall, international demand accounts for 49 per cent, adding that due to the high demand, a random selection draw process will be carried out to determine which fans will be awarded tickets.

“This fair allocation process will be observed by a public notary and applied to all cases where the number of tickets requested by January 31 2018 at 12:00 Moscow time exceeded the number available. “All fans will be informed of the outcome of the random selection draw process by mid-March 2018 at the latest.

“The next opportunity to purchase tickets for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia™ will commence on 13 March, when tickets will be sold in real time on a first come, first served basis at FIFA.com/tickets (subject to availability), which means the tickets will be confirmed at the time of purchase,” the statement said.

It added that tickets could be purchased online by using “Visa payment cards or Visa Checkout. Visa is the official payment services partner of FIFA.

“Tickets purchased during sales phases 1 and 2 will be delivered free of charge to fans in the weeks leading up to the tournament, with deliveries planned to start in April/May 2018 (subject to change).”